Clon song is international online hit

In just one week they notched up nearly 10,000 YouTube hits, broke into the top 50 of the Irish iTunes charts, attracted fans from as far away as Kathmandu, Boston, and France — and now they’re set to perform in Cork Opera House.

And most of them are under the age of 12.

A song composed and performed by staff and pupils at Scoil na mBuachailli in Clonakilty, West Cork, has attracted huge attention both at home and internationally after it first featured on the Irish Examiner website.

The song, ‘Home — The Clonakilty Christmas Song’, celebrates the beauty of the picturesque West Cork town at Christmas and expresses the gnawing sense of loss felt by locals forced to emigrate since the recession began.

The catchy melody has notched up almost 4,500 hits alone on the Irish Examiner website as well as nearly 5,000 hits between the video specially created for the song by deputy principal Regina Fitzmaurice and a clip of the singers performing live on County Sound radio last Friday. It was produced by John Fitzgerald of Lettercollum Recording Studios.

“It’s been the most amazing rollercoaster,” said headmaster Barth Harrington, who composed the song to raise money for Cork University Hospital Children’s Unit and the school building fund.

“It’s only been a week since it first appeared on the Irish Examiner’s website, but it seems to strike a chord with people affected by emigration; we’ve had responses from people all over the world including Kathmandu, Boston, France, and Britain.

“We’re now in rehearsals for the Opera House — we’ve been invited to support the West Cork Ukelele Orchestra next Monday night.

“Kevin McNally, the founder of the orchestra, heard the song and liked us and has now invited us to be the opening act on the night and we are absolutely thrilled. Being on the Opera House stage is a hugely unexpected boost for us.

Next Monday, December 15, around 20 pupils of the school, aged between 8 and 12, along with a group of around 11 teachers, including Karen O’Regan, the lead vocalist, will perform at Cork Opera House.

“We’ll be performing five songs; it will be a mix of Christmas songs and some of our own original songs, finishing off with ‘Home — The Clonakilty Christmas Song’.

”It’s a huge deal for us and we’re very excited about it. We still can’t believe the reaction to the song — on its first weekend it broke into the Top 50 of the Irish iTunes charts without any airplay. We’d love to be featured on RTÉ or any of the national stations.”

‘Home — The Clonakilty Christmas Song’ can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play, and is also on Spotify. A CD will soon be available in Clonakilty at Hunky Dory on Spiller’s Lane, O’Donovan’s Hotel, Atkins, Tony Hayes, Xtravision, the Clonakilty Bookshop, and De Barra’s Bar.